1990 Volume 30 Issue 3 Pages 67-72
This study is on the development of biology teaching materials to make students understand not only the relationship between nature and human life but also food problems in Science and Agriculture at the level of upper secondary school. Substances of the ruminant stomach in dairy cattle were used as initial materials of the learning. Two kinds of experiments in animal husbandry were selected carefully: 1) digestive tests in vitro with ruminant microorganisms; 2) quantitative analysis of the VFA (Volatile Fatty Acids) in the cultures. In order to adapt the actual conditions in upper secondary schools, their experiment was modified: 1) the cultures were filtrated through a polyester filter paper (No. 350; Azumi Co., Ltd.) in the digestive tests; 2) the air-dried samples were measured. In the case of the digestive test of timothy grass as the feed for dairy cattle, there were not any significant differences between the cultures with urea and without urea. In the case of rice straw, however, there were some significant differences between them. Timothy grass had a higher digestive rate than rice straw. As the results of the experiments, they were not crippled by the modified methods. We propose that all the students should learn the biological relation between agro-science and the life of organisms through the teaching materials.
